• Capsules – usually made from gelatine, vegetarian alternatives are becoming widely available.
• Cashmere – Animal derived clothing material, see Clothing.
• Catering/Cookery – training may require the handling of meat, see Vegetarian Society Cookery School
• Caviar/Roe Fish eggs – the fish must be killed to obtain the eggs.
• Cheese – may have been produced using animal rennet, see Cheese Production
• Chips – may have been fried in animal fat.
• Chitin – produced from crab & shrimp shells.
• Chocolate – may contain whey/emulsifiers, see Cheese Production & E-Numbers.
• Cochineal E120 – made from crushed insects, see E-Numbers.
• Crisps – Can contain whey powder which may be derived using animal rennet, see Cheese Production.

• Down – from slaughtered ducks/geese or live plucking, see Clothing.
• Dripping – melted animal fat, used for frying.

• E Numbers – European food additive numbering system, not all are vegetarian, see E-Numbers.
• Eggs – some vegetarians may wish to avoid battery eggs and/or barn eggs. The Vegetarian Society does not approve products containing eggs other than those free range, see Vegsoc Approved
• Emulsifiers – may not be vegetarian, see E-Numbers.

• Fast Food – Bean/Vegetable burgers may be cooked alongside meat/fish products.
• Fatty Acids – may be of animal or vegetable origin, see E-Numbers
• Feathers – see Clothing
• Felt – made from wool/fur, see Clothing
• Fig – A fruit. Some varieties are pollinated by fig wasps, which then die inside the fruit. The fig plant then absorbs the wasp. This process is a natural part of the fig plant’s lifecycle. Some of the most commonly available varieties of figs, however, do not require pollination (e.g. Kadota and Black Mission).
• Fur – see Clothing

• Lactose – produced from milk, see Cattle
• Lanolin – produced from sheep’s wool. Used to make vitamin D3, see Sheep
• Leather – see Clothing
• Lecithin – mostly produced from soya beans, can be produced from eggs, see Laying Hens

• Oleic acid – fatty acid from either vegetable/animal fats, used in cosmetics.
• Pepsin – enzyme found in animals gastric juice, may be used in cheese making, see Cheese Production
• Photography – photographic film uses gelatine and some high quality photo papers.
• Rennet – an enzyme taken from the stomach of a newly killed calf used in the cheese making process, see Cheese Production
• Restaurants – may serve non-vegetarian cheese, battery eggs, stock. See Food & Drink Guild for local restaurants.
• Seedling Symbol – products carrying the Vegetarian Society’s seedling symbol have been thoroughly checked to ensure they are suitable for vegetarians.

• Suet – may be made from animal fat, vegetable versions are available.

• Sweets – may contain gelatine/E120.

• Tallow – rendered animal fat, similar to lard, usually derived from cows or sheep. Used in traditional candle making and, in the form of sodium tallowate, in soap production. The English polymer five pound note issued in September 2016 contains tallow.

• Toothpaste – some brands contain glycerine. See E-number 422 for more information.

• Vegan – The Vegan Society produces ‘The Animal Free Shopper’ which lists products suitable for vegans.
• Vitamin D3 – derived from the lanolin from sheeps’ wool therefore only D3 which is guaranteed sourced from wool sheared from live sheep is considered acceptable.